Using a political scandal of the not-too-distant past for inspiration, a Morinville man brought cookies to the provincial legislature to denounce what he called inaction on the town's ongoing secular school issue.
Thomas Kirsop, who protested Morinville's lack of secular education outside of the Morinville town offices earlier this year, went to the legislature Thursday, armed with more than 100 boxes of cookies.
Kirsop said Education Minister Dave Hancock has been just as wrong on the secular schooling issue as former Alberta Health Services CEO Stephen Duckett was on health care. Duckett was fired several months ago after he brushed off reporters' queries about emergency room wait times because he was eating a cookie.
"The cookies were my statement to [Hancock] that if he is not going to do his job he might as well be eating a cookie, much the way Stephen Duckett was because he is not doing anybody any good," Kirsop said.
The Morinville parent said he doesn't understand why the minister is not more involved in fixing the issue, noting he sent parents back to talk to the town's public — and only — school board, Greater St. Albert Catholic, even though trustees initially said they would not provide a secular option in the classroom.
"I don't think he is doing enough," he said. "I think he is sidestepping the issue. My opinion is it is probably politically based, there is an election coming and that is not right," he said.
Kirsop said he views the issue as discrimination, one the minister has to resolve.
"I believe that if a public school was promoting one race above and to the exclusion of all others the minister would be all over it."
Hancock was not at the legislature when Kirsop dropped off the 100 packages of cookies and several-dozen hand-baked gingersnaps, but an aide from his office did collect them on the legislature steps.
Kathy Telfer, a spokesperson for the minister, said Hancock believes parents have a right to a secular education and is allowing the board to work out a solution.
"He certainly has said there will be secular education. They have a right to secular education, the issue now is how is it provided," she said. "That is the work that is going on right now."
Kirsop said the delays have already gone past next year's registration deadlines and his two school-aged children will be leaving Morinville for a secular education.
"We do not know if anything will be in place in September or not, so my children have been registered in Namao," he said. "They will leave town boundaries and go down the highway … in a town of 8,000, that is not something we should be doing."
Two other families who were petitioning for secular education chose to leave Morinville rather than wait for the board's decision.
Telfer said it is unfortunate parents felt compelled to leave, but the minister has been very clear.
"That is unfortunate they had to do that, but that is a personal decision that they made. The minister has said that they have a right to it and the expectation is that it will all be ready in September."
Cookies given to Slave Lake evacuees
Kirsop had originally planned to give a box of cookies to each MLA, but given the recent fire in Slave Lake he agreed with Hancock's suggestion to take them to one of the evacuation centres.
"I cannot argue, it is a good thing. There are probably a lot of kids from Slave Lake that could use a cookie right now."
